ROBERT GRIFFITHS spoke at a conference in Shenzhen, China, last week on 'Marxism in the 21st Century and the Future for World Socialism'. Here is his speech:

In Das Kapital, Marx explained how and why — as the result of capital accumulation and technological advance — capitalism creates a 'disposable industrial reserve army' from dispossessed, displaced and redundant workers.

Seventy Communist parties from 50 countries have been meeting in Shenzhen, China, this week to mark 'The Historical Contribution of Karl Marx and the Contemporary Significance of Marxism'.

Launching the conference, International Minister Song Tao said the event 'demonstrates the firm commitment of the Communist Party of China to maintain and develop the scientific theory of Karl Marx in the 21st century'.

Britain's deepening social crisis confirms the urgent need to replace Theresa May's minority regime with a left-led Labour government, Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths declared at the weekend.

Reporting to his party's Executive Committee, he slammed Dame Judith Hackitt's review of building regulations in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster and the Tory response. She had stopped short of calling for a ban on combustible cladding, while Housing and Communities secretary James Brokenshire had promised a 'consultation' on the Hackitt report followed by unspecified legislation.

This the draft of an updated 8th edition of the Communist Party's programme. First published in 1951 as The British Road to Socialism, subsequent editions were issued in 1952, 1958, 1968, 1977 and 1989.The 7th edition in 2000 was renamed Britain's Road to Socialism. The 8th edition was adopted by the Executive Committee in July 2011.

The Communist Party of Britain unreservedly condemns the latest act of aggression in Syria by Britain, the USA and France today (April 14). International law cannot be upheld by breaching the most important articles of the United Nations Charter, which ban unprovoked military attacks by one member state upon another.